Love Over Family
by HavocHound
Summary: Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps. Officers. Heroes. Lovers. For months, the two had been together with only a few people they trust knowing about their relationship. After all, a fox and a rabbit together? There are some who would be ashamed of them. Some like Judy's family. When Judy tells her family the truth and it goes south, Nick has to be there to pick up the pieces.
_**AN: First Zootopia fic, hope its good.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Zootopia**_

* * *

Before he met Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde lived a fun and exciting if not lonely life in Zootopia. When he wasn't busy working cons or doing jobs for the various low lives of the underground business as it was called, he sometimes went to clubs, bars, bowling alleys, and even the occasional strip club or two. Hey, a young male fox has his needs, you know? Still, for all the excitement that his once criminal life had, he wouldn't trade it in the world for what he had now.

He was now a respectable citizen. A hero to the community. A fox who was looked up to instead of viewed with suspicion. Even some of his old pals from the old days like Finnick accepted his choice. Just as Judy made herself an example to rabbits, Nick was seen as an example to foxes. In less than three years since he had joined the ZPD, others had stared to push away their prejudice thoughts about foxes and give them a chance. A few precincts were even hiring a few foxes when they proved to be great undercover cops.

Nick had done a few undercover cases since he joined, but didn't do so many due to Judy worrying about his health each time he pretended to be some drug or arms dealer. She was always worried he was going to end up in hospital, although that was funny since in most of the cases they worked she had the winning record for hospitalization between the two of them.

Still, Nick couldn't say no to his best friend… or rather his girlfriend.

Nick smirked to himself as he gazed upon his phone where his cover photo was of him and Judy on their first date, a picnic in the park where he forgave her after a heartwarming speech about how wrong she was in her statement about predators. He still liked to use that as leverage sometimes to get things his way such as what music to listen to during patrol or what food to get for lunch. All joking aside, he wouldn't trade Judy for anything in his past life. Not for all the money in the world.

He didn't know when it started, the feelings he held for that cute rabbit, but they had grown over the years they spent together. They were always each others partners if they could help it, they were the best team in the police department and everyone, even Chief Bogo, knew it, and there was nobody else in the city they trusted and hung out more than each other.

Judy was everything to him. She was the reason he was able to change his life and become what he always wanted to be deep down, someone who helped others. To his surprise, Judy was the one who confessed first. It had been during a sting operation to catch some Night Howler dealers who wanted to sell it to some gang in the Rainforest District. Nick had nearly taken a bullet to the chest, but in true fox fashion, faked the hit and pretended to be dead to fool the gangsters into lowering their guard. What he didn't expect was Judy to rush towards him, tears in her eyes, and beg him to come to back. He was going to stop his act when they kissed for the first time.

His eyes open wide as he tasted her lips and felt closer to heaven then he ever felt. It was the most awkward and weirdest confession of love ever. Yet, Clawhauser thought it was cute.

Needless to say, he and Judy talked a lot that night when they came home. She in tears and yelling at him for making her think he was dead, and him apologizing for scaring her. At the end of the night the two of them ended up in bed, tearing each others clothes off.

They were late to work that day, which earned them parking meter duty, but it was worth it.

That was months ago and Nick was happy with how things were going. He had a career, lived in a house he shared with his best friend and girlfriend, and Judy and him were more in love then bees around honey. Only those in the precinct, and a few outside knew of their relationship, mostly to avoid any sort of press and controversy. While loving outside of your species was not uncommon these days, NOBODY had ever heard of a fox and rabbit in a relationship. The two species had hated each other for thousands of years, even more so then cats and dogs.

While Nick didn't have anybody to really worry over his relationship (Finnick found out on his own and didn't give two cents), Judy had her entire family who had been taught from birth to never trust foxes. Gideon Grey and Nick were exceptions, but even he could tell that some of them, including Judy's Father, were very hesitant.

He had only met them once, an awkward meeting where she wanted him to meet her folks, and while some of them weren't bad it was clear he wasn't the most welcomed. If Judy suspected that, she never mentioned it. Perhaps that was why she said she would be going to her family reunion alone. While Nick was saddened that he wasn't going to have his girlfriend and partner by his side for a few days, it gave him time to plan out something special for a date. Using Mr. Big for a favor, he managed to get reservations at the expensive Tailana; one of the grandest restaurants in Zootopia.

As he shut off his phone, continuing to watch the news on the aftermath of a court case that he and Judy helped with to put a murderer away, his phone soon buzzed. Back in his paws so soon, he saw the name of his girlfriend and smirked while pressing answer. "Hey, Carrots. Tired of your family so much that your missing little old me?"

There was silence on the phone which made Nick raise an eyebrow. "Carrots?"

"… Nick… can you pick me up at the station," muttered Judy's voice which sound close to cracking.

While he may not have had as sensitive of ears as Judy, Nick could tell when someone had been crying or was in immediate distress. His relaxed and joking attitude quickly faded into his rare seriousness tone as he asked, "What's wrong?! Are you okay?!"

"Please… just pick me up…" was all she said before she hung up, but he was quite certain he heard a sob.

Nick didn't even bother to turn the TV off. He rushed out of the house with his car keys before driving off as close to the speed limit as he could. A thousand questions went through his mind as he made his way to the station. Why was Judy crying? What happened? Was she hurt? Was somebody in her family hurt? Why was she home early?

He tried to think of the last time he saw her like this and that was when one of her older sisters died in an accident. She had been completely devastated before and after the funeral she attended. Had another of her siblings or even her parents passed away? He quickly dismissed this as the reason since if it was then she would be at home supporting her family and not returning in tears.

It only took him twenty minutes to reach the station by the time the sun was coming down. He soon spotted her, a lone bunny in a crowd of animals taller than her, slowly making her way with her bags dragged behind her. Nick wasted no time jumping out and rushing over to her. When he could finally see her, Nick saw that her eyes were puffy red and tear marks were all over her cheeks. There was also something in her eyes that he had rarely seen: utter defeat. Judy Hopps, who had never accepted defeat, who always came back with a smile, looked like her life was over.

She stared at Nick with those big and hurt violent eyes before wrapping her arms around him, sobbing in his chest. Nick could do the only thing he could do, hug her back and stroke her head. "It's okay, Judy. I'm here. I'm here."

He kissed her forehead, not caring if anybody was watching, and let her cry it all out.

* * *

After finally calming her down, Nick drove both of them home where Judy said she needed to take a shower. Nick didn't bother saying anything. He had questions, a lot in fact, but he knew he had to be patient. Judy looked ready to fall apart any second and he didn't want to shatter her further then she already had been. He calmly poured some green tea and waited for her to come out.

When she did, she accepted the cup and sat down in silence. After a few sips, Judy sighed and wiped her eyes again. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Nick, sitting next to her.

"For looking… acting like this… I'm… oh god, Nick. I don't know how to begin…" whispered Judy, covering her face with her paw.

Nick put an arm around her and let her rest on his chest. He stroked her ears, a favorite hobby of his that she didn't mind, and whispered, "Tell me from the beginning."

Judy slowly nodded and took a deep breath. "It started out great. I mean, I was there with the whole family and we were playing games. Eating food. Talking about my accomplishments as an officer. You know so many of my nieces and nephews want to be just like me now? We played cops and robbers so much but I never got sick of it. I was inspiring my family." A small smile decorated her lips. "Aunt Lucy is pregnant again, third litter this time. My little sister, Jessica, also finished college and is starting her new job next week. By big brother, Owen, he's getting married soon."

"Sounds like everything is going well with your folks," whispered Nick.

"It was… until my litter mates started asking me why I didn't have a boyfriend," muttered Judy.

Nick didn't need to be a detective (although he was one now) to know where this was going. He could already see the ending, but he didn't say anything as Judy continued. "I tried to press the question away, ignore it and everything. But they refused to stop bother me about it. I finally just got so… annoyed and shouted out loud that I had a boyfriend."

Judy shuttered. "I felt everyone's eyes on me in a second, including Mom and Dad. They all then started clapping and hugging me, congratulating me for finding a potential mate. Dad even joked saying he thought I was going to be married to my job first before another bunny." She closed her eyes and hugged Nick even tighter. "They… they asked me to talk about him…"

"Judy, you don't have to say anymore," Nick whispered.

She ignored him and shook her head. "I… couldn't lie. I just couldn't… I told them I was in love with you."

Everything went silent after that. She didn't cry or say anything, she just lay there as Nick stroked her head and wrapped his tail around her waist like a blanket. Even though she wasn't doing it outright in front of him, Nick could tell that Judy was crying inside. He often wondered what his parents would think of his relationship with Judy. His father died in a car crash before he was born so he never really knew him that much. His mother was always more open minded then most foxes, always trying to do the right thing no matter how much easier it would have been to do the "sly fox" thing. She would have accepted Judy as part of the family easily.

Nick really wished his mother was still here. Her death when he was thirteen and being sent into an orphanage was what broke him into becoming a criminal. He always knew deep down he was disappointing his mother until he met Judy. He missed her so much and wished she was here to comfort the both of them.

"I never heard such silence," whispered Judy after staying quiet for twenty minutes. "There was always sound in the house. Always. But I caused over 270 rabbits to fall silent." A tear dripped down her eye. "And then it came. The screaming. The disgust. The insults. The questions. Everything I feared happened at once that I didn't even have a chance to defend myself. My father was the loudest of them all. My mother… she just continued to cry as if she was ashamed of me. Of what she had given birth to."

"Judy…"

She continued, "I tried to tell them you were a good fox. A good friend and lover. I refused to follow that mindset anymore. I just couldn't. Dad brought up a bunch of ancient and prejudice crap that I called him out on. He blamed a lot of it on you, but also on Zootopia as well. Finally, he said I had a choice… either I give you up as well as police officer to come home to be a proper bunny… or I leave the family and never come back."

Nick felt his heart leap out of his chest as he stared at Judy who gave him a sad smile with those warm and pure violet eyes. "Judy… you couldn't… they were your family! Everyone you loved!"

"I love you," stated Judy as she got up and kissed Nick as hard as she could. He was too shocked to kiss back but he accepted it nonetheless. He felt every part of his fur melt from her sweet kiss. Despite the tears in her eyes, she was still smiling. "Nick Wilde, coming to Zootopia and meeting you has been the greatest thing in my life. I'm a cop, I'm in love, I have tons of friends and I've changed so much in this city. This place, with you, is my home now."

She closed her eyes and lowered her head. "So I left… I packed up and left. My father looked at me like I was some kind of monster, all while burning photos of me in a fireplace. My mother just did nothing, just sat down and cried. Some of my relatives looked at me with pity, but most of them were just the same kind of hatred they gave you when they first met you."

"You want me to give them a good scare?" asked Nick, completely serious. He had no problem going to that carrot farm and scaring the living fur off all those rabbits. _And they say rabbits value family above all? Give me a break._

"No, it doesn't matter. I'm no longer a Hopps," sighed Judy as she leaned back in the couch. "When a bunny is exiled from her family she or he loses their last name. No other family will take me in or give me such kindness, at least in Bunnyburrow. I'm just… Judy…"

"… do you regret it?" asked Nick, sitting back down next to her.

"No," said Judy, shaking her head. "If I agreed to my father's demands, I would have turned my back on everything I believed in. Everything I fought for." She looked back at him and smiled. "It hurts, but I'll be okay, Nick. I promise. I just have to get used to writing just my first name from now on."

Nick wrapped his paw around his girlfriend and squeezed. He could tell that smile was fake, he had seen enough fake smiles to tell when one was real or not. He wanted nothing more than to make Judy actually smile, and only one thought—a completely crazy one—came to him.

"What if you had the last name of Wilde?" he asked which made her snap her head back to him in a second.

"W-what?" whispered Judy, eyes widened.

Nick didn't know why he was doing this. A part of him screamed this was too soon or too crazy but he didn't care. He got on one knee and held her paw all while she blushed more than Chief Bogo did the time Nick put a naked photo of Gazelle in his paperwork as a prank. "Judy, will you marry me and become Judy Wilde?"

"Oh, Nick," she whispered as she placed a paw over her heart.

"I know I don't have a ring, and I know this might be the worst of times," Nick admitted, with a shrug. "But how can I not want to spend the rest of my life with you after what you've done. I love you so much, Judy. And I want us to be together forever. Will you marry me?"

"Y-YES!" shouted Judy as she cried tears of joy. Laughing, she dived into his embrace and kissed him. He kissed her back and the two held each other in passionate embrace while twirling around the room, laughing and smiling.

When they decided to get some air, Judy rested her head on Nick's chest and smiled. "Nick, thank you."

"No, Carrots, thank you," whispered Nick as he hugged her back. There was going to be a lot to plan for the wedding.

But for tonight, just having each other was enough.


End file.
